Mary Jo Bang
Mary Jo Bang is the author of seven collections of poems. She teaches at Washington University in St. Louis.
Mary Jo Bang is the author of seven collections of poems. She teaches at Washington University in St. Louis.
Mary Jo Bang is the author of seven collections of poems. She teaches at Washington University in St. Louis.
![Giorgio de Chirico, L’énigme de l’heure [The Enigma of the Hour], 1910/11. Oil on canvas. 21.7 × 28 inches. Private Collection. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome.](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstudio.brooklynrail.org%2Fassets%2Fc1660e4f-6e84-455a-8b79-f92d0103f287.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
She could find reason
anywhere if she looked
for it. The clock told her
to get up. She got up. She ate.
The plot is the one thing we know,
said Mandelstam.
anywhere if she looked
for it. The clock told her
to get up. She got up. She ate.
The plot is the one thing we know,
said Mandelstam.
She sat her purse down on the kidney-shaped coffee table,
turned on the floor-lamp, and called
the monkey over to have a chat.
What had he done
today? She wanted to know.
turned on the floor-lamp, and called
the monkey over to have a chat.
What had he done
today? She wanted to know.
>In the reverse psychology of earnestness, more
suddenly meant less. Every tear was a crocodile
hanging from the underlid.
Every nose had its neat dot of moisture.
And for wisdom, there was the Dali Lama.
suddenly meant less. Every tear was a crocodile
hanging from the underlid.
Every nose had its neat dot of moisture.
And for wisdom, there was the Dali Lama.